Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Peter Fitness on February 24, 2008, 11:49:01 pm
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We are within about 4 hours of boarding QE2 in Sydney bound for Southampton, so this may be my last post for while, depending on access to the internet on the ship. We are taking our wireless capable laptop, and I believe computers are available on board, so I may still be able to keep in touch, and post some photos of the trip, as requested by Martin.
Peter.
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Peter,
Enjoy your trip and would love to see some pics.
Bob
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Thanks Bob, I will do my best.
Peter.
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Yes, some en route pics would be great. I'm envious!
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I am Jealous defiantly,where in the UK are you going.If you are around North Wales give me a shout especially if you fancy a sail at LLanberis even midweek I will take day off
Stavros
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Hi Stavros,
We will be spending a week each in Wiltshire, near Chippenham, Minehead in Somerset, the Lake District, at the southern end, and a village about 5 miles west of York. We are then spending 4 nights with friends in Eastbourne, followed by 5 nights in London. We fly out of Heathrow on 26th May. We have been to north Wales on previous trips, and did a trip on the Bala Lake Railway, as well as the train up Mt Snowdon twice. We also spent some time with a friend in Abergavenny in south Wales, on two occasions. I don't think we will be in your area this time, but thanks for the offer, I would like to have met you.
Peter.
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Have agreat hoilday Peter and remember to post those piccies..
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Peter, if you're stopping in Eastbourne, do please pop down to Princes Park and have a sail with the Eastbourne Model Power Boat Club. I'm sure we can rustle up something for you to sail! If you read this en route, drop me a PM and I'll give you some contact details.
Have a great voyage and hope maybe to see you in Eastbourne.
Andy
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Hiave a great cruise O0, and don't forget to sample the great range of pies we have. :)
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Hiave a great cruise O0, and don't forget to sample the great range of pies we have. :)
He would need to go to Wigan for the best pies..... :D :D
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Barry,
The best pies in the world are right here in Aus mate..............................
Roy
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Do you two think you might be a little off the topic ? {-)
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Do you two think you might be a little off the topic ? {-)
I know where you are comming from Richard. O0 ::) O0
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Peter,
Seeing you will be in Hobart if you can get access and see this let me know and we will meet you at the dock..........................
Roy
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Well, many weeks have gone by and our QE2 trip is now in the past. We arrived on time in Southampton on 18th April, and after a lengthy disembarkation process (6 hours), we finally set foot on English soil after 11 years. We are in Minehead, Somerset at the moment, and I found a great little internet cafe with free wifi access, as long as you buy a cup of coffee or similar. We were in Wiltshire for a week, and move on from here to the Lake District on Saturday. I have taken literally hundreds of maritime related photos, some of which I will post here when we get back home, in early June. The Panama Canal transit was probably the biggest highlight, it was absolutely amazing, and I think I took over 100 photos of that event alone.
The QE2 is a grand old ship, she is showing her almost 40 years, but still oozes class and elegance, whereas the newer vessels are opulent, more than elegant. She still has a good turn of speed, we were doing over 30 knots on several occasions during the trip, and the Captain was quick to point out the QE2 can go faster full astern than the Queen Victoria can full ahead O0.
Oops, my battery is nearly flat, hopefully will be able to connect again soon.
Regards to all in the Forum,
Peter (In good old England)
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Hi Peter,
Glad you made safely to Blighty and look forward to the pic's.
However you have just made me feel very very old. At the time of the QE2s maiden voyage I was working in Buxton Derby's. My boss bought his daughter and her new husband tickets for the maiden voyage as a wedding present.
I got the job of driving them done to Southampton a good run in those days, did manage to scrounge a bit of a look round though.
Enjoy your hols will hear from you soon.
Yours Colin H.
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Look forward to the pictures, Peter. Missed your smiling face on here of late.
Enjoy your visit to England and a safe return home.
Roger in France.
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If it isnt too late , dont forget the nice maritime museum in Barrow-in- Furness, southern end of the Lake District (kinda). Not getting north of the border ?
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...Peter... Get yourself North of the Grey Line and into Scotland...
It wont take you too long to realise why it is called "Bonnie Scotland"& that "Bonnie" means ...The most beautiful country in the World...
You could come & see where the Great Ship was Built...
...All The Best From Bonnie Scotland...Norry...
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QE2 is indeed a faster ship than generally thought. Many moons ago on one of my many appointments to RFA Resource we were doing speed trials around the Isle of Arran race-track. So was the then new QE2. We were lolloping along at 22 knots and were lapped by QE2 every 4 or 5 laps. She was screaming along...and looks a dream at those speeds. What a pity the true "liner" has given way to the floating hotel.
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Sorry Norry, not going to Scotland this time, although we have been there on 2 other occasions.
Arrow5, we are only about 10 miles from Barrow at the moment, in fact we were in there today. I certainly intend on visiting the Maritime Museum there, it was recommended to me by the couple who own the cottage we are staying in for our week in the Lake District. They both used to work for Vickers until made redundant, some years ago.
Yes Bryan, the days of the real liners have almost finished, and it was a privilege to be part of QE2's last world cruise. Some of the crew members have been aboard her for years, one of the musicians in the QE2 orchestra, guitarist Stevie Levisohn, has been on her for over 20 years.
I have attached just 2 photos that I took of QE2, one in Fremantle, Western Australia, and the other was taken from one of the tenders when we were going ashore in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
Peter
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lovely photo of her bow O0
john
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Here's another photo you may be interested in. I took the shot as we passed over the spot where Titanic lies 96 years to the day after she sank, and a minute's silence was observed to mark the occasion. A wreath was also placed overboard from the stern. As can be seen, the weather was not wonderful, but it was quite a special moment. It was amazing to us that an iceberg should have been so far south, and apparently, bergs have only been recorded in that area three times.
Peter
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hi peter went over that spot in january this year on her and the weather was a bit better but not much.
john
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And NO icebergs either Peter.
Welcome back to dry land!!
Bob
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Hi Peter
Will you be here for the Wicksted Bash ?
Ken
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Thanks Bob, but I would do it all over again, given the chance.
Ken, unfortunately I won't be able to make Wicksteed :'(
I've attached some more photos I took during the cruise. The shot of the bridge was taken in Fremantle - note the blue umbrella on the starboard wing. The other 3 were all taken while we were anchored off Maui, one is of a tender alongside the boarding platform, one is of the platform hoist mechanism, and the other is of one of the big tenders returning to the ship from Lahaina - check out the glorious blue water, exactly how it was.
Peter.
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Here's a photo that is perhaps rather appropriate, the sun setting in the Indian Ocean, as QE2 leaves an Australian port for the final time. It's all a bit sad really :'(
The 4 small craft are the remnants of what was quite a large flotilla of vessels that accompanied us out of Fremantle. There was also a huge crowd (for Fremantle) of people on every vantage point to wave farewell to a grand ship.
Peter.
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hi peter lovely photos. The one of the bridge were you mentioned the blue umber la. If you look to the left you will see a disk . That is the sonic weapon they put up while the are at dock/ anchor. So the umber la is to keep the operator in the shade.
john
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John, I noticed that dish each time we were docked/anchored. You called it a "sonic weapon", what does it actually do?
Peter.
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It's an anti piracy device as described below:
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MIAMI (AP) - The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend, the cruise line said Monday.
The Seabourn Spirit had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get onboard.
The subsidiary of Carnival Corp. was investigating whether the weapon was successful in warding off the pirates, he said. The ship's captain also changed its course, shifted into high speed and headed out into the open sea to elude the pirates, who were in two small boats, he said. He had no further details.
Device maker American Technology Corp. said earsplitting "bangs" were directed by trained security personnel toward the pirates. That, combined with ship maneuvers, caused the attackers to leave the area, the company said.
The LRAD is a so-called "non-lethal weapon" developed for the U.S. military after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen as a way to keep operators of small boats from approaching U.S. warships.
The military version is a 45-pound, dish-shaped device that can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's operators or others in the immediate area are affected.
American Technology, based in San Diego, compares its shrill tone to that of smoke detectors, only much louder. It can be as loud as about 150 decibels, while smoke alarms are about 80 to 90 decibels.
The devices have been deployed on commercial and naval vessels worldwide since summer 2003, the company said.
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If it isnt too late , dont forget the nice maritime museum in Barrow-in- Furness, southern end of the Lake District (kinda). Not getting north of the border ?
I went to the Barrow Dock Museum today and found it very interesting. They have some beautiful models there, nearly all made by the shipyard model makers, so the standards are very high. I spoke to one of the people there about the shipyard's current status, and was told that it is owned by BAE Systems, still employs around 4-5000 people, and is currently building "Astute" class nuclear submarines, and will soon be commencing work on sections of a new class of aircraft carrier. All construction work for the subs is carried out in huge covered buildings, so it is not possible to see what is going on. The photo shows the museum and the BAE facility.
Peter.